by Elon Vidal
“You should learn to communicate solely with the one mind you wish to tell something,” the vampire cut in. “You just asked every telepathic creature within a mile what I am.”
Anwar had said something about telepathy working that way at one point. That was probably why he kept hearing what she telepathically said to other people, and why he’d turned when she was trying to communicate with the shadow. Lucy bit her lip.
“Yeah, it's true, you have to improve your telepathy skills,” Anwar quietly told Lucy.
“Now, come along before I make you to. We need to file a report.”
They followed the vampire down a path that was covered in a light mist. Lucy tried to monitor the way they were going. She couldn't afford to get lost deeper into this unknown land, but as she followed the lady down winding paths, she knew there was no way she could find her way back on her own.
Soon, the sky had disappeared and a very dull glow made Lucy strain her eyes to see. They were now in some kind of stone underground city, with the lights on the walls bolted and dimmed extremely low. There were huge buildings carved from stone, with scowling gargoyles and ornate, Gothic designs. The atmosphere felt so still, it seemed like only Lucy and Anwar were breathing.
“This place we're going to file the report,” Lucy said to the lady vampire as she now closely followed, feeling uncomfortable under the stone gazes of the gargoyles, “can I also find my friends by any means? We got sep—”
“When we're seated, I'll hear you out,” the lady cut in with a small hiss. “Now is not the time.”
Vampires stared at Lucy and Anwar, and when any came too close to the foreigners, the leading vampire would hiss and bare her fangs at them, making them back off immediately.
Lucy and Anwar were led into a dark building and made to sit behind a large stone table. The lady left them alone in the room.
“Thoughts?” Lucy said into the darkness.
“I don't feel any threats yet, but keep your guard up.” Anwar held on tight to Lucy's hand. “Where are we? I haven't felt any magical signatures since we met that lady, even though I felt people's presence.”
“I think this is some kind of vampire town,” Lucy whispered. She raised her hand and tried to force a little light to her palm. She cast the light around the room, only seeing the table and a chair before them.
A harsh hiss from the open doorway startled her. “We don't do that in this settlement. Put out your light immediately.”
Lucy recognized the voice of the vampire she had been following and put out the light on her palm. “I'm sorry.”
If they enjoyed being plunged into darkness like this, Lucy doubted that any good could come out of this. Light was associated with good, but who was she to judge? This might just be their...quite unusual culture.
Footsteps approached them, then the leather chair was pulled back and sat in. A clap made the dim lights in the wall switch on, barely making a difference in the room.
“I am Tesha, counter of souls at the gate. Since you are not souls, I brought you for an interrogation. Why are you here? I fear the shadow dwellers may have succeeded.”
“Tell her the truth,” Anwar thought to Lucy.
Lucy was scared Tesha would hear her reply to Anwar, so she just took a deep breath and told the lady, “The Lumenary Prophetiae brought us here.”
“The Lumenary Prophetiae?” Tesha echoed, her low voice becoming even lower as she said the words. “Are you sure this is the place it's leading you?”
Lucy slowly nodded. It had been clear since the defeat of Greed at Dracoterra. The book of prophecies gave very clear clues that they were to head to Netherim which, now that she thought about it, seemed a bit too easy.
“I know about the book of prophecies,” Tesha said with her lips in a thin line, “and Netherim is the last place to accept what it says. This land is totally not safe for you, if you truly are the Chosen. Many will be out to get you and what you stand for.”
Lucy gulped. She hadn't expected a warm welcome to the land of the dead, but the fact that Netherim felt that way about the prophecy gave her chills. How was she even sure Tesha wouldn't be one of the first to attack her for being the Chosen?
Tesha peered closer at Lucy's face, her amber eyes searching for something. “Well, are you the Chosen?”
Just then, shouts of panic rang out through the cold air, followed by loud hisses and cries of agony.
Tesha's sharp jawline showed how hard she clenched them, and she stared at the door before saying, “We're under attack.”
Before Lucy could say a word, Tesha was gone in a blink of an eye.
“Anwar, we're leaving,” Lucy said, getting up and tugging Anwar up with him.
“Why?” Anwar asked, hesitantly getting up.
“Outside not safe,” Crick softly said, looking up at Lucy with big blue eyes and a pout.
“Crick's right, we should stay with the one person who at least knows the land,” Anwar told Lucy. “We're lost as it is. Where do we go?”
“I don't know. Definitely somewhere far from a village of vampires. We're walking meals here, Anwar.”
An agonizing cry rang out above the shouts and fighting that was going on outside, dampened a bit by the stone walls of the room. What was going on out there? Was it shadow dwellers attacking, or just creatures of the underworld who were out to come get Lucy? No one knew what she was. At least, she hoped so. There were no windows, so the only way to find out was to head through the door.
“And what makes you think out there is any safer, huh? You were kept alive up till this moment. What makes you think whatever is attacking vampires would have mercy on us?” Anwar's hands trembled, and so did his voice at the last part.
Lucy was no empath, but she could understand how scared he was, not knowing what was going on and only depending on her for guidance and safety. She had to be strong and brave for him.
Pulling him into a hug, she patted his back and softly said, “We'll get back with Madge and the others soon, I promise. I won't let you get hurt, okay?”
Anwar nodded and sniffled, pulling back and raising his light eyes to her face. “What now?”
“Let's wait for —”
A male vampire barged in, with a gash on his neck bleeding purple blood. His amber eyes landed on Lucy and Anwar, and he bared his fangs, appearing before Lucy in a second.
Lucy changed her mind; they certainly wouldn't be waiting for Tesha anymore.
The male vampire gripped her neck and growled, “Who are you?”
“A Lightbringer… on a…” Lucy struggled to breath as her lungs burned and the bones in her neck threatened to crack.
“Back off!” Anwar yelled, using telekinesis to pull up and throw the leather chair at the vampire's head. The vampire easily stopped it in mid-air and flung it against the stone wall, turning it into a splintery mess.
Lucy used those few seconds of distraction to slam her hand onto the vampire's neck in an attempt to knock him out with a Michi move. On the contrary, Lucy got hurt as she heard a small crack when she came in contact with the rock-hard body. Her pinky finger burned with pain.
The vampire added more pressure to Lucy's neck, and she knew that if she didn't do something quick, he was going to snap her neck.
But what could she do to defend herself from a vampire? Toss a string of garlic at him?
A loud growl reached her ears, and a blur of dark gray crossed her line of vision. The vampire was thrown to the floor, and Lucy fell into a heap on the ground. She gasped for breath, rubbing her neck, never so thankful to be breathing. A loud crunch came from where the vampire fell, followed by a splatter of dark purple blood.
Crick let out a creak of fear and rushed to Lucy's side as she struggled to regain her breathing, leaning on the chair next to Anwar.
“What's going on?” Anwar asked.
Lucy's voice was stuck to her throat as she stared at the huge, wolf-like creature straighten up to its six-foot tall stature on hind legs. I
t turned and stared at Lucy with electric blue eyes that glowed in the dim light.
“Use Light magic,” a deep male voice ordered Lucy through her mind. She knew it was the werewolf that kept staring at her. His large, silver claw was pointing at the vampire on the floor, who was twitching with purple blood gushing out of the jagged bite mark on his neck.
Lucy nodded at the werewolf and summoned light to her palm like she had witnessed Phoebe do so on several occasions. The pain in her hand was unexpected, and she quickly discovered it was due to the lack of enough light in the room. Also, her pinky finger was probably broken.
“Don't, Lucy. You're using your life force to fuel your powers,” Anwar told her, touching her arm.
“Y'know what? Save your energy,” the werewolf telepathically told Lucy. “We'll need it for when you're helping me out of here. He won't survive the bite anyways.” He motioned at the vampire on the ground with a jerk of his head.
The werewolf turned and began walking towards the door, still on two feet. “Come, Lightbringer.”
“Will f-follow?” Crick asked Lucy in a small, shaky voice.
“I… I guess so. He saved us from the vampire, didn't he?” Lucy asked, trying more to convince herself than to convince Anwar and Crick.
Summoning courage, she held both boys' hands and followed the werewolf.
Her inner self told her she was taking a step in the right direct by crossing over to the werewolf's side—probably because he hadn't tried to kill her up till now, but she was still cautious of him. He definitely knew what she was, and possibly who she was. And what did he mean by helping him out of here? She didn't know anywhere in Netherim.
CHAPTER THREE
Be wary, be watchful,
those who know will know.
For even light makes shadows.
Excerpt from the Lumenary Prophetiae
“Stay quiet,” the werewolf thought to Lucy, who was right behind him.
She pressed her back against the cold stone wall and covered Crick's mouth with her hand. His creaking still gave him away, and she prayed the vampires' sensitive senses wouldn’t sniff them out.
“I hear heart beats in the next hall,” hissed a female voice. “Check it out.”
Well, dang, there goes their efforts at being quiet.
Lucy made Crick get on her back so she wouldn't leave him behind in a chase. A vampire appeared around the corner and the werewolf didn't hesitate to sink his huge canines into the vampire's throat, leaving him twitching on the ground.
Lucy now thought that werewolves were stronger than vampires, based on how easy it was for the werewolf to take them down. She had no idea werewolves were this strong and fast, as this was her first encounter with one.
Was he to be trusted, though? Lucy tried to think of a way to escape if the werewolf turned out to be a bad guy, but what could she possibly do to be faster than a creature that moved in blurs?
“Use your magic.”
“Huh?” Lucy's eyes widened and her heart sped to her throat. Could the werewolf hear what she was thinking?
“Use your light magic to ward off the vampires once we're out the front door,” the werewolf explained, getting on four feet and rounding the bend.
Lucy followed closed behind, and Anwar gave her hand a squeeze. He probably felt her heartbeat speed up.
They got to the front hall, with slain vampires behind them. The shouts and cries of battle outside became louder, and Lucy wondered if there were other werewolves out there, in a fight with the vampires.
If so, why were they attacking? What had gone on between the two parties? Who was this lone werewolf that had come to get Lucy and Anwar? Was it somehow connected to the prophecy?
“This way,” the werewolf directed, marching towards the front door. He stopped a few feet before it, and turned to face Lucy, still sending a message through telepathy. “No one is your friend but me, alright? No one. Trust no vampire nor wolf out there.”
Lucy stared into his eyes for a couple of seconds before nodding slowly. She didn't trust the werewolf, but she wasn't going to let him know that for fear he might rip out her throat, too. But the fact that he knew she was a Lightbringer made her think that maybe he was on her side. He wasn't attacking her, yet. But why did he want her to be wary of other wolves? What made him different from the others?
“Ready?” he asked.
Lucy pulled as much energy as she could from the dim lights in the walls, making a little orb of light float on her palm. “Ready.”
The werewolf burst out the door and gave deep menacing growls. Vampires immediately surrounded them, but stayed at least six feet away. Their ash-colored skin contrasted with the dark cloaks they had on, and they bared their fangs as they hissed at the werewolf, with amber eyes similar to Tesha's, assessing the issue.
“Don't let him get away!” one of the vampires yelled.
A female vampire dared to step closer, but let out a cry of pain as the light burned her face and arms badly. She retreated.
There were half a dozen werewolves farther up the street, in a conflict with the vampires. The werewolf leading Lucy and Anwar nodded towards an alleyway, and they followed. The vampires didn't let go, and stayed hot on their trail while giving a wide berth.
Lucy's heart pounded as she held up the light. The vampires' faces were contorted in a look of hate, and that made her remember what Tesha had told her about Netherim. They certainly weren't welcome here, but what about the werewolf stranger?
“Stay close to me and don't look in their eyes,” ordered the werewolf as he jogged ahead.
“We can't keep up!” Anwar cried, struggling to keep running while Lucy tugged him along, stumbling quite a few times.
The huge creature stopped, got on four feet, and motioned for them to get on his back. Lucy hauled herself up on his sturdy back, which had surprisingly silky soft fur, and pulled Anwar and Crick on. After they quickly settled, he took off in a neck-breaking speed, and Lucy had to wrap her arms tight around his neck to keep from being flung from his back.
Everything was a blur, but Lucy could still make out a couple of vampires appearing beside them every now and then. Her light was slowly getting dimmer, as there were no lights she could draw energy from in the alley, so the vampires were coming closer and closer. Lucy shut off the light completely and hoped no one would snatch her off the wolf's back.
When they reached the dead end of the alley, a ten-foot wall loomed over them. Lucy thought for sure that they were goners. What could they do?
To her surprise, the werewolf ran vertically along the wall and scaled it, landing in what looked like a deserted small-town square. It had happened too fast for her to feel the pull of gravity or fall off his back.
The wolf stopped and sniffed in the air, then let out a low growl. Lucy looked behind and around her. There were no vampires in sight, only a few pools of purple blood on the ground. Werewolves must have been here. No wonder the chasing vampires had stopped.
Then she saw them. Huge wolves creeping out from the shadows with orange eyes that glowed. They were a bit smaller than the blue-eyed wolf she was riding, but they were outnumbered—one to a dozen.
The two parties stared at each other, growling and baring their teeth.
“Why did you come back to the pack to steal from us?” asked a wolf from the group with a scar across his nose. “Now you're caught, you have to surrender.”
“Your pack has nothing to offer me,” hissed the blue-eyed wolf.
“It was your pack, too. Your family, Wolfe.”
Alright, firstly, his name is ‘Wolfe’? What parent thought it would be a great joke to name their werewolf kid ‘Wolfe’?
Lucy had to digest the information she just heard. Family? Why would he steal from his own family, and what had he stolen to make them come after him in such large numbers? Doggie treats?
Alright, alright. Focus, Lucy. She gripped the blue-eyed wolf’s fur tighter—who Lucy now knew was called ‘Wolfe’
—and pored over the other wolves. They looked like they were on the verge of attacking, and without sunlight or her anelace, Lucy wasn’t sure how much she could do to keep her and Anwar from being slaughtered alongside Wolfe.
Wolfe let out a startling growl and stepped back. “Keyword: was. It was my pack, my family, until you banished me! I'm alone now. It will never be my pack again, Ranger.”
Ranger lowered his head, giving a better view of the long, dark scar that ran across his nose. “Then you shouldn't have come back.”
With that, he leapt towards Wolfe, who jumped and met him mid-air. Wolfe’s thrust dismounted the trio onto their butts on the floor. They tried to claw and bite each other’s necks.